Birmingham City

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

As Small Heath, they played in the Football Alliance before becoming founder members and first champions of the Football League Second Division. The most successful period in their history was in the 1950s and early 1960s. They achieved their highest finishing position of sixth in the First Division in the 1955–56 season and reached the 1956 FA Cup final. Birmingham played in two Inter-Cities Fairs Cup finals, in 1960, as the first English club side to reach a major European final, and again the following year. They won the League Cup in 1963 and again in 2011. Birmingham have played in the top tier of English football for around half of their history: the longest period spent outside the top division, between 1986 and 2002, included two brief spells in the third tier of English football, during which time they won the Football League Trophy twice. St Andrew's has been their home ground since 1906. They have a long-standing and fierce rivalry with Aston Villa, their nearest neighbours, with whom they play the Second City derby. The club's nickname is Blues, after the colour of their kit, and the fans are known as Bluenoses.

In Their Own Story

In March 2003, the derby turned violent before and after the game at Villa Park. Two Villa players, Dion Dublin for a head-butt on Robbie Savage and Joey Guðjónsson for a tackle on Matthew Upson, were sent off. Missiles were hurled at police outside on Witton Lane. Violence escalated again in December 2010 during a League Cup match where Blues won 2–1; supporters came onto the pitch, flares were lit, and seats were ripped out. A Birmingham City club chef was among those arrested following scenes described as a 'warzone'. Conversely, Villa achieved dominance in the late 2000s, setting a record of six straight league wins from 2005 to 2010, capped by a 5–1 victory in April 2008, the biggest winning margin for either side in a league match for 40 years.

Reader's Guide

Birmingham City were founded as Small Heath Alliance in 1875, and from 1877 played their home games at Muntz Street. The 'Heathens' turned professional in 1885, and three years later became the first football club to become a limited company with a board of directors, under the name of Small Heath F.C. Ltd. From the 1889–90 season they played in the Football Alliance, which ran alongside the Football League. In 1892, Small Heath, along with the other Alliance teams, were invited to join the newly formed Football League Second Division. They finished as champions, but failed to win promotion via the test match system; the following season promotion to the First Division was secured after a second-place finish and test match victory over Darwen. The club adopted the name Birmingham Football Club in 1905, and moved into their new home, St Andrew's Ground, the following year. Matters on the field failed to live up to their surroundings. Birmingham were relegated in 1908, obliged to apply for re-election two years later, and remained in the Second Division until after the First World War. Frank Womack's captaincy and the creativity of Scottish international playmaker Johnny Crosbie contributed much to Birmingham winning their second Division Two title in 1920–21. Womack went on to make 515 appearances, a club record for an outfielder, over a twenty-year career. 1920 also saw the debut of the 19-year-old Joe Bradford, who went on to score a club record 267 goals in 445 games, and won 12 caps for England. In 1931, manager Leslie Knighton led the club to their first FA Cup final, which they lost 2–1 to Second Division club West Bromwich Albion. Though Birmingham remained in the top flight for 18 seasons, they struggled in the league, with much reliance placed on England goalkeeper Harry Hibbs to make up for the lack of goals, Bradford excepted, at the other end. They were finally relegated in 1939, the last full season before the Football League was abandoned for the duration of the Second World War. The name Birmingham City F.C. was adopted in 1943. Under Harry Storer, appointed manager in 1945, the club won the Football League South wartime league and reached the semi-final of the first post-war FA Cup. Two years later they won their third Second Division title, conceding only 24 goals in the 42-game season. Storer's successor, Bob Brocklebank, though unable to st

Did You Know?

• Birmingham City were founded in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance.
• They were the first English club side to reach a major European final, in the 1960 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.
• The club's nickname is Blues, and fans are known as Bluenoses.
• St Andrew's has been their home ground since 1906.